Object Record
Images
Metadata
Artist |
Nichols, Philip |
Title |
Form in Steel #9 |
Medium |
welded steel |
Date |
1963 |
Description |
Philip Nichols (Freeborn County, Minnesota 1931 - 2019 Knoxville) Form in Steel #9, 1963 Welded steel 23 x 9 x 8 inches Knoxville Museum of Art, 2013 gift of Robert E. Kohn in memory of Martha Bass Kohn Philip Nichols was a veteran Knoxville artist known for his welded steel sculptures resembling architectural structures or mechanical forms designed for an unknown purpose. He came to Knoxville in 1961 from Michigan as the first sculptor appointed to the University of Tennessee art faculty and the seventh and final member of the Knoxville Seven. Nichols' intricate steel forms served as a fitting sculptural counterpart to the largely abstract canvases produced by other Knoxville Seven members. Form in Steel #9 is a very early example of Nichols' sculpture, and was produced in his makeshift campus studio on 16th Street only a year or two after his arrival in Knoxville. Using skills honed through years of work as an industrial welder, he fused dozens of small steel panels into a cubist-inspired structure resembling a faceted, machine-like figure. It is one of the only known sculptures by Nichols from the 1960s, before he began working in stainless steel for its durability and brilliant finish. |
Catalog Number |
2013.04.01 |
Search Terms |
Steel Welding Sculpture Knoxville Seven |
Credit line |
gift of Robert E. Kohn in memory of Martha Bass Kohn |